Sustainable Development

Development of the concept

Geologic time
…………..
Miocene – 23 million years ago
Pliocene – 5.3 million years ago
Pleistocene – 2.6million years ago
Holocene (most recent) - 11,700 years BC
(the last major ice age)

Environmentalists: presently no longer Holocene but

“Anthropocene”—from anthropo, for “man,”
and cene, for “new”—because human kind has caused
mass extinctions of plant and animal species, polluted
the oceans and altered the atmosphere, among other
lasting impacts.

“Anthropocene” was popularized by chemistry Nobel

laureate Paul J Crutzen in 2000
Evidence we’ve started an ‘Anthropocene’
We’ve pushed extinction rates of flora and fauna far above the long-term average.
The Earth is now on course for a sixth mass extinction which would see 75% of
species extinct in the next few centuries if current trends continue

Increased the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere by about 120 parts per
million since the industrial revolution because of fossil fuel-burning, leaving
concentrations today at around 400 ppm and rising

Nuclear weapon tests in the 1950s and 60s left traces of an isotope common in
nature, 14C, and a naturally rare isotope, 293Pu, through the Earth’s mid-latitudes

Put so much plastic in our waterways and oceans that microplastic particles are now
virtually ubiquitous, and plastics will likely leave identifiable fossil records for future
generations to discover.-- 300 million tons a year.

Doubled the nitrogen and phosphorous in our soils in the past century with our
fertilizer use.

Left a permanent marker in sediment and glacial ice with airborne particulates such
as black carbon from fossil fuel-burning
 Sustainable Development: Historical Markers
http://www.mddep.gouv.qc.ca/developpement/reperes_en.htm

1968 The Club of Rome

1972 The release of The Limits to Growth (Club of Rome)
1972 The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
1984 The World Commission on Environment and Development(*)
1987 The release of Our Common Future (*)
1992 The Earth Summit
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Agenda 21)

2002 The World Summit on Sustainable Development

*) - Brundtland Commission
In 1962, the book Silent Spring by American biologist Rachel Carson
was published.
It catalogued the environmental impacts of indiscriminate DDT spraying
in the United States and questioned the logic of releasing large amounts
of chemicals into the environment without a sufficient understanding of
their effects on ecology or human health.
The book suggested that DDT and other pesticides may cause cancer
and that their agricultural use was a threat to wildlife, particularly birds.
Its publication was a seminal event as regards the environmental
movement and resulted in a large public outcry that eventually led, in
1972, to a ban on the agricultural use of DDT in the United States.
A worldwide ban on its agricultural use was later formalised under the
Stockholm Convention, but its limited use disease vector control
continues to this day and remains controversial.

DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
Development of the concept

At the beginning of 21st century around the world we see

sign of severe stress on our interdependent economic,
environmental and social system.

Population is growing 7 billion in 2011 from 4.4 billion in

1980 – expected to grow to 8 billions in 2025.

Excessive consumption and poverty continue to put

enormous pressure on the environment.
Development of the concept
Excessive consumption and poverty continue to put enormous
pressure on the environment.

• 60% of all ecosystem services are degraded

• About 75% of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops has
been lost.
• 25% of the world‘s land area is either highly degraded or
undergoing high rates of degradation.
• 50% of world river is seriously depleted and polluted
• Depletion of ozone layer
• Rapid GHG build up (CO2 is 25% higher than 150 years ago)
• 40% of world population were suffering from water shortage
• Poverty - 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day
Development of the concept
These and a host of other trends suggest that our
current development course is unsustainable

High and increasing consumption of scarce resources

and resulting pollution compounded by population growth
and growing imbalance between different countries pose
unacceptable risk to communities, nations and humanity
as whole.

Economic development that disregard environmental

and social impacts can bring unintended and unwanted
consequences:
• climate change,
• overuse of freshwater resources,
• loss of biological diversity and
• raising inequalities
Development of the concept

The concept of sustainable development has grown out

of concerns about these adverse trends.

In essence, it is an approach to development which

focuses on integrating economic development activity
with environmental protection and social concerns.
Development of the concept

The development of “sustainable development” as we know

it today emerged in the 1980s as a response to the
destructive social and environmental effects of the
prevailing approach to “economic growth”.

The idea of SD originated within the environmental

movement.

One of the earliest formulation of the concept of

sustainable development can be found in the 1980’s World
Conservation Strategy – jointly presented by:
• UN Environmental Programme (UNEP),
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
• International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources (IUCNNR).
Development of the concept

This early formulation emphasized that:

“For development to be sustainable, it must take into

account of social and ecological factors, as well as
economic ones; of the living and non living resource base;
and of long term as well as the short term advantages
and disadvantages of alternative actions”

It called for 3 priorities to be built into development policies:

• the maintenance of ecological processes;
• the sustainable use of resources; and
• the maintenance of genetic diversity
Development of the concept

However the concept of SD gained a wider recognition

only after the UN - World Commission on Environment
and Development (WCED) published its report “Our
Common Future” (a.k.a “the Brundtland Report”) in 1987.

It was this report that gave the concept the prominence it

has today.

Wakil Indonesia di Brundlandt Commission: Dr. Emil Salim

Development of the concept

The WCED report set the benchmark for all future

discussions on sustainable development. The starting point
for the Commission’s work was their acknowledgment that
the future of humanity is threatened. “Our common
future” opened by declaring:

“The earth is one but the world is not. We all depend on

one biosphere for sustaining our lives.
Yet each community, each country, strives for survival and
prosperity with little regard for its impacts on others.

Some consume the Earth’s resources at a rate that would

leave little for future generations. Others, many more in
number, consume far too little and live with the prospects of
hunger, squalor, and diseases, and early death”
Development of the concept

To confront the challenges of over consumption on the

one hand and grinding poverty on the other, the
Commission called for sustainable development, defined as

“development that meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of the future generation to meet
their own needs”
Sustainable Development

“development that meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of the future
generation to meet their own needs”

Raw material

Energy

Ideal condition
The “needs”

• Food
• Housing
• Clothing
• Movement
• Communication
• Environment/space
-Healthy, safe, beautiful scenery
Development of the concept

In order to reverse unsustainable trends, the WCED

recommended the following 7 critical actions aimed at
ensuring a good quality of life for people around the world
(WCED, 1987)

• Revive growth
• Change the quality of growth
• Meets essential needs and aspirations for jobs, food,
energy, water and sanitation;
• Ensure a sustainable population;
• Conserve and enhance the resource base;
• Reorient technology and manage risk; and
• Include and combine environment and economic
consideration in decision making
Development of the concept

Since Brundtland Report, a whole of series of events and

initiatives have brought us to the wide-ranging
interpretations of sustainable development that we see
today.
On of the key events was the UN Conference on
Environment and Development (a.k.a the Earth Summit)
held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
At the Summit, representatives of 180 countries
endorsed the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development which set out 27 principles supporting
sustainable development.
Development of the concept

The assembled leaders also signed:

• the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,
• the Convention on Biological Diversity, and
• the Forest Principles.
They also agreed a global plan of action, AGENDA 21,
designed to deliver a more sustainable pattern of
development and recommended that all countries should
produce national sustainable development strategies.

In 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development

(WSSD) in Johannesburg, leaders and representatives
of 183 countries reaffirmed sustainable development
as a central element of the international agenda.
Development of the concept

The government agreed to a wide range of concrete

commitment and targets for action to achieve SD
objectives, including (WSSD 2002):
• To halve by the year 2015, the proportion of people live in
poverty;
• To encourage and promote the development of 10-year
framework of program to accelerate the shift towards
sustainable consumption and production;
• To diversify energy supply and substantially increase the
global share of renewable energy sources in order to
increase its contribution to total energy supply;
• To improve access to reliable, affordable, economically
viable socially acceptable and environmentally sound
energy services and resources;
Development of the concept

...sustainable development objectives, including (WSSD

2002):

• To accelerate the development and dissemination of

energy efficiency and energy conservation technologies,
including the promotion of research and development;
• To develop integrated water resource management ad
water efficiency plans by 2015; and
• To achieve by 2010 a significant reduction in the current
rate of loss of biological diversity.

WSSD: World Summit on Sustainable Development

Development of the concept

The Johannesburg Summit moved the sustainability

agenda further, and consolidated and broadened the
understanding of SD, particularly the importance and
the linkages between poverty, the environment and
the use of natural resources.

These political events brought SD firmly into the public

arena and established it as a widely accepted goal for
policy makers.

As a result we have seen a proliferation of SD

strategies and policies, innovative technological and
scientific and educational initiatives, and new
legislative regimes and institutions.
Development of the concept

The concept of SD now influence government,

business and economic activity at different levels, and
effects individual and society lifestyle choices.

The United Nations 2005 World Summit Outcome

Document refers to the "interdependent and mutually
reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as:
• economic development,
• social development, and You will deal with this?
• environmental protection.
 "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of SD

Environment
(Natural resource use is a major
source of environmental stress)

Economic Social
(Natural resource is a key motor (Natural resources is a principal
of macroeconomic growth) prerequisite for basic human needs)
Development of the concept

The concept of SD has also made inroads into the

business community: to integrate sustainability into
corporate strategies and practices.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development

(WBCSD), a coalition of 165 international companies
(including some of the world’s largest corporations), are
united by:

“a shared commitment to sustainable development via

three pillars of economic growth, ecological balance and
social progress”.
Development of the concept

Many professional organizations including engineering and

scientific organizations have incorporated sustainable
development into their mission statements, statutes and codes.
“Melbourne Communiqué” (representatives of 20 chemical
engineering organizations from around the world) committed
themselves to using “their skills to strive to improve the quality
of life, foster employment, advance economic and social
development and protect the environment through sustainable
development” (World Chem. Engineering Council, WCEC, 2001).
SPE Sust. Dev. Technical Section (2015).
A community of individuals committed to helping the oil and gas
industry accelerate the integration of sustainability practices in
to its operations and behaviors.
Program: SPE Sustainability Initiative
Development of the concept

The principles of sustainable development and many of its

objectives have now been widely adopted, and the
agenda has moved from the question of “what does
sustainable development means?” on to the questions of
“How do we achieve sustainable development?” and
“How do we measure our progress towards achieving it?”.

Yet in contrast to rapid progress in DEVELOPING the

CONCEPT of sustainable development, progress in
IMPLEMENTING sustainable development has been slow.
As the WSSD demonstrated in 2002, sustainable
development remains largely theoretical for the majority of
the world’s population.

WSSD: World Summit on Sust Dev.

Sustainable Development: Implementation

Sustainable development presents a framework for

change rather than a list of prescriptions to achieve it.
There is however a growing consensus that the transition
to a more sustainable society requires new ways of
meeting our needs which can reduce the level of material
consumption and reduce environmental damages without
affecting quality of life.
This will require, above all, limiting the throughput of
material and energy in the economy and finding less
wasteful ways of meeting needs through efficiency,
reusing materials and using sustainable technologies.
Sustainable Development: Implementation

Moving to a more sustainable path, however, does not

only require a better management of the environment.

Certain minimal socio-economic conditions must also be

met to ensure the necessary consensus for short term
actions and long term stability. “Greening” industrial
economies whilst ignoring the needs for poverty alleviation
and the redistribution of opportunity would not ensure long
term sustainability.

True sustainability means ensuring a satisfying quality of

life for everyone.
Sustainable Development: Implementation

True sustainability means ensuring a satisfying quality of

life for everyone.

Meeting this objectives therefore not only requires

reducing the scale of polluting activities and the excessive
levels of consumption but also calls for well planned
actions to alleviate poverty and achieve greater equity and
distribution of opportunities both within and between
countries.
 Global Environment Protection Measures

Pollution prevention
Pollution prevention is an integrated concept that reduces or
eliminates pollutant discharges to air, water or land and
includes the development of more environmentally
acceptable products, changes in processes and practices,
source reduction, beneficial use and environmentally sound
recycling.
American Petroleum Institute Step Programme
 Global Environment Protection Measures

Cleaner production
Cleaner production is the continuous use of industrial
processes and products to increase efficiency, to prevent
pollution of air, water and land, to reduce wastes at source,
and to minimize risks to the human population and the
environment.
UNEP Cleaner Production Programme
 Global Environment Protection Measures

Eco-Efficiency Program
The delivery of competitively priced goods and services that
satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while
progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource
intensity throughout the life cycle, to a level at least in line
with the earth’s estimated carrying capacity.
WBCSD Eco-Efficiency Program
WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development
WBCSD has identified 7 elements that a business can use to
improve their eco-efficiency:

• Reducing the material requirements (total mass consumed);

• Reducing the energy intensity (energy consumed during every phase of
development)
• Reducing toxic release and dispersion
• Enhancing material recyclability (reuse of material or energy)
• Maximizing sustainable use of renewable resources (avoiding depletion
of finite resources)
• Extending product durability (optimizing product life);
• Increasing the service intensity (creating value-added while reducing
environmental impacts).

All of this need to consider resource cycle (next slide)

Resource Cycle

Exploitation Utilization of
activities Resources

Utilizable resources
Available Usable
Utilizable products
resources

recycle spent
Spent resources
activities resources
Exploitable from the use of generation of
from
resource production usable products spent resources
potential activities

Exploration ‘recycle '

activities Spent Resources Environmental
impacts
Natural resource
potential Natural
Regeneration
Reclassification
Reclassified resources activities
 Green Chemistry
(a.k.a Sustainable Chemistry)
Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and
processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation
of hazardous substances.
Green chemistry applies across the life cycle of a chemical
product, including its design, manufacture, use, and
ultimate disposal.

Green chemistry:
• Prevents pollution at the molecular level
• Is a philosophy that applies to all areas of chemistry, not
a single discipline of chemistry
• Applies innovative scientific solutions to real-world
environmental problems
• Results in source reduction because it prevents the
generation of pollution
 Green chemistry's 12 principles

1. Prevent waste:
Design chemical syntheses to prevent waste. Leave no waste to
treat or clean up.
2. Maximize atom economy:
Design syntheses so that the final product contains the maximum
proportion of the starting materials. Waste few or no atoms.
3. Design less hazardous chemical syntheses:
Design syntheses to use and generate substances with little or no
toxicity to either humans or the environment.
4. Design safer chemicals and products:
Design chemical products that are fully effective yet have little or no
toxicity.
5. Use safer solvents and reaction conditions:
Avoid using solvents, separation agents, or other auxiliary
chemicals. If you must use these chemicals, use safer ones.
6. Increase energy efficiency:
Run chemical reactions at room temperature and pressure
whenever possible.
7. Use renewable feedstocks:
Use starting materials (also known as feedstocks) that are
renewable rather than depletable. The source of renewable
feedstocks is often agricultural products or the wastes of other
processes; the source of depletable feedstocks is often fossil fuels
(petroleum, natural gas, or coal) or mining operations.
8. Avoid chemical derivatives:
Avoid using blocking or protecting groups or any temporary
modifications if possible. Derivatives use additional reagents and
generate waste.
9. Use catalysts, not stoichiometric reagents:
Minimize waste by using catalytic reactions. Catalysts are effective
in small amounts and can carry out a single reaction many times.
They are preferable to stoichiometric reagents, which are used in
excess and carry out a reaction only once.
10. Design chemicals and products to degrade after use:
Design chemical products to break down to innocuous substances
after use so that they do not accumulate in the environment.
11. Analyze in real time to prevent pollution:
Include in-process, real-time monitoring and control during
syntheses to minimize or eliminate the formation of byproducts.
12. Minimize the potential for accidents:
Design chemicals and their physical forms (solid, liquid, or gas) to
minimize the potential for chemical accidents including explosions,
fires, and releases to the environment.
On September 25th 2015, countries adopted a set of goals to end
poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part
of a new sustainable development agenda.
Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15
years.
For the goals to be reached, everyone needs to do their part:
governments, the private sector, civil society and people like you.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
17 goals to transform our world
 SDG
17 goals to transform our world

Homework 1
Essay (5 pages):
Identify elements of SDG that are relevant to petroleum engineering
discipline (direct and indirect) and show that petroleum engineering can
contribute in achieving SDG.
WBCSD has identified 7 elements that a business can use to
improve their eco-efficiency:

• Reducing the material requirements (total mass consumed);

• Reducing the energy intensity (energy consumed during
every phase of development)
• Reducing toxic release and dispersion
• Enhancing material recyclability (reuse of material or
energy)
• Maximizing sustainable use of renewable resources
(avoiding depletion of finite resources)
• Extending product durability (optimizing product life);
• Increasing the service intensity (creating value-added while
reducing environmental impacts).
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
2030